Babymoon - 26 Weeks

Brandon and I had the opportunity to go to St. Thomas last year for our one year anniversary, and for those of you that follow me on Instagram know, we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend our 2nd anniversary there this October as well! The only difference is that this year, the trip served as our babymoon as well. Here are some pictures from our trip. 

A lot of rum punch was had - just not by me!

We took the ferry over to St. John and drove around the island discovering different gems. We went to Trunk Bay to snorkel, and later discovered an amazing restaurant with the most AMAZING view. Brandon enjoyed a few "dirty monkeys".

Gorgeous Trunk Bay behind us

Trunk Bay

B enjoying a "dirty monkey" with a view of St. John at Chateau Bordeaux 

On our actual anniversary, Brandon and I spent the day driving around St. Thomas. We discovered Hull Bay where we did more laying in the sand and floating in the warm Caribbean water!

Cheers to two years!

One of my favorites days was going island hopping by boat :-) We had a captain take us from island to island. Brandon researched and found a catamaran which is SUCH a smooth ride for a pregnant woman. Even in choppy waters, it glided smoothly over the swell. We went back to White Bay - the MOST gorgeous beach in the world which is on Jost Van Dyke Island, and home to our favorite spot - the Soggy Dollar Bar. We had lunch at Myett's on Tortola Island.

I got so many compliments on my starfish cuff by The Oxford Trunk!

This trip was exactly what I needed. To get away from work, and school and spend eight days floating in the ocean was incredible for my body! It was the first week in awhile that my back hasn't hurt. But let me tell you, CANKLES have arrived! My feet and ankles are so fat! The humid weather definitely didn't help.

I have a couple more weeks of school and then hopefully I'll be back to blogging more regularly!

Visiting Arizona

So our overall consensus is that we really liked Scottsdale! We stayed at the Double Tree Inn and it was a really cute area. Since we were in town for Jason & Erica's wedding - we knew we had to get in touch with Paul & Bailey who you might remember from Brandon's swearing-in ceremony. They took us to an adorable wine bar/restaurant named Postino that is famous for their Bruschetta.

 Twinkle lights will win me over every time.

I was not kidding about the bruschetta. We each chose a different kind and then shared them. There was prosciutto with figs, apple & brie, caprese and one with bacon. I am so glad that we shared or I never would have tried some of these! Figs? Do I even like figs? I'm such a creature of habit. It turns out I do like figs on bruschetta! There is a reason this place has such a good reputation. They were all delicious.

Afterwards we walked to a little gift shop/bakery/coffee shop next door and had some fun looking at all the trinkets. Then it was back to our hotel room to hang out. Every time we get together with Paul & Bailey, Brandon and I throw a pity party about how we don't live closer to them.

 I wanted to buy this sweet doggy wall art...

Oh, and P.S., as some of you might have seen on Facebook, Brandon announced there would be a surprise during our trip home. It turned out to be a place called Date Shakes, where they are famous for their date flavored shakes. I know, right? I was slightly mortified when I realized he intended for us to order one, and even more mortified when he said he was ordering the Cactus flavored milkshake and I was ordering the date shake. He coerced me by mentioning it would be "blog material" if nothing else. True.

 There was a line out the door at this place, which is usually a good sign.

 So my overall opinion would be this: the date shake was decent. It tasted like an artificial chocolate shake.

 The cactus shake was sweet with a kick...and it was pink, which was alarming.

I'm glad we tried it, mainly so I can tell people I've had a cactus shake. 

How very Arizona of us, right? 

Walking in a Vegas Wonderland

Yep.

We spent Christmas in Las Vegas! 

My parents decided that they wanted to take us to see

Disney's Lion King the musical...

on Christmas day.

So on Christmas morning,

my mom, dad, two brothers, brother's girlfriend, myself and Brandon

all piled into the Yukon.

Yes -- one car, seven people.

My brother's begged to take a separate car. 

Nope. 

We were gonna drive together and we were gonna like it. 

When we all get together, 

the family is, for lack of a better word, 

loud. 

{and opinionated, argumentative, funny and loving}

The drive there was only about four hours which wasn't bad at all,

but goes a little something like this. 

Spencer: This isn't fair. 

The tallest in the family shouldn't have to be crammed in the back seat.

Me: You're the youngest.

Spencer: Well you're the shortest, so you should be back here.

Me: I'm your elder. 

Mom: Stop arguing.

AJ: Well why couldn't we have taken two cars?

Dad: Zip it.

Spencer: Can someone please turn up the music? 

Brandon: I have to pee.

Me: I'm freezing, I can hardly feel my face.

Why do we have to have the air blasting?

Spencer farts. 

  Me rolling down the window: Mooom!

If he does this the whole trip I'm gonna lose my mind!

Dad laughs and turns down the music.

Mom turns around: Spencer, that is not okay. 

Spencer: I know, I know, I'm sorry.

Me: No he's not, he's still smiling.

AJ: It's sweltering in here. Is it too much to ask to get some air flow?

Me: It's finally comfortable!

Dad: Well why did you wear your barbie t-shirt?

{they refer to all of my clothes as barbie clothes because they are "too small"}

Me: You want me to wear a huge winter coat in the car??

Mom: She loves to prance around in her tank tops but she's always cold.

Me: I'm wearing a sweatshirt for crying out loud!

Brandon: I have to pee...again.

Spencer farts.

Although I'm getting cranky just thinking about the drive,

we had an amazing time once we got there. 

We stayed at New York, New York which is my favorite Vegas hotel. 

For those of you that haven't been,

the inside is made to look like the city streets of New York,

complete with cobble stone streets, manhole covers,

bedroom windows and fire escapes,

street signs, hot dog vendors,

trees and cafes.

Taken with my iPhone but you get the idea. This was inside the hotel.

View from the hotel room

We couldn't take our nice camera into the theater - so again my trusty iPhone came to the rescue.

On the strip with my brother AJ & his girlfriend Ro {and although that looks like it should be my hand on Brandon's neck - it's my brother's. My hand is not that large.}

The next day was spent mostly eating and shopping. 

Reminiscing about being in Paris a couple of years ago.

The sparkly head band/ear warmers that I bought.

Il Fornaio for dinner - my parent's 32nd anniversary :-)



Brother AJ and husband Brandon



 And there was no way we could go all the way to Vegas

and not stop by the pawn shop from Pawn Stars

which we watch all the time. 



The line wrapped around the building so we didn't actually go inside. Darnit.



This really was unlike any other Christmas we've experienced. 

And although it wasn't the most traditional Christmas,

it was one that was filled with family, food and laughter.

A lot of laughter.

What more could you ask for?

Xo,

Magen's Bay

One place that we knew we had to visit was Magen's Bay. National Geographic Magazine called it one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world!! On the island tour we took on the first day we saw Magen's Bay from one of the lookouts and it was stunning (see earlier blog posts). So we couldn't wait to actually get down there and get in the water. It did not disappoint.

One of the first things I noticed in the clear blue (almost green) water were big dark spots along the shore. From farther away it almost looked like a bunch of seaweed however it was actually a massive school of tiny fish! It was absolutely incredible to walk through the school of fish and watch them part immediately and all together in one move. We couldn't have touched one if we wanted to.

Notice how the boys are standing in white spots because the fish move

I'm not sure how clear this video will be but I thought it might give you a better idea.

At one point we saw what we thought were sharks swimming through the school of fish but it turns out they were just huge Tarpon fish.

Island Hopping

Hands down our favorite day in the Virgin Islands was the day that Brandon's parents chartered a private boat (with a captain) to take us island hopping. This wasn't just any old boat either. It had a downstairs with a bathroom, bedroom, and kitchenette. This picture doesn't really do it any justice but it's really the only one I have of the boat itself.

 

Our captain, Francois, took us to several destinations throughout the day.

1st Stop: Pointing out mansions that we'll never be able to afford:

The "house" behind us rents for $5k a night and was the one the RHNY rented for their vacation! Remember?

2nd Stop: Snorkeling at Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands. *Fun Fact: the book Treasure Island was inspired by the caves at Norman Island*

Gorgeous right?

We saw an octopus, sting ray and SHARKS!! Yes, one shark swam right beneath Brandon's mom, Penny! Later we saw a mama shark lying on the bottom of the ocean floor with her baby shark. It was kinda cute but to be honest I kept waiting for her to bolt up and get me.

3rd Stop: Lunch at Willie T's (an old abandoned pirate ship turned restaurant and bar).

Now let me just tell those of you that don't already know. Brandon's mom knows how to have a good time, I mean she can party with the best of 'em and makes me feel like an old lady! Within 30 minutes of stepping onto the ship she had downed two rum drinks and was jumping off the back of the ship with some other naked party animals (although she herself was not naked).

Brandon's turn

Lunch with our captain, Francois

Francois recommended that we get an order of Conch (pronounced Conk) Fritters which were honestly to die for. I wish I had taken a picture, but it was breaded with spices and actually contains some pieces of conch. Unfortunately for me, I googled recipes later and found out conch is a sea snail and wanted to throw up. I'd still recommend them to anyone though!

Our last (and maybe best) stop: The Soggy Dollar! This is a bar on the island of Jost Van Dyke, BVI. It got its name because you have to swim ashore from your boat. Once inside the bar, you can hang your money on a line to dry. The ocean was once again amazing and we ordered a round of 'Nilla Killas which is a different version of the Pain Killer drink we'd been having everywhere we went. The only difference is that the rum in the Nilla Killa is Vanilla flavored instead of dark rum. Basically this drink from heaven consists of:

Cream of Coconut
Orange Juice
Pineapple Juice
Vanilla Rum 
and then it's topped with grated nutmeg. 

Stan & Penny outside of the Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke Island

We enjoyed our drinks in the ocean and then reluctantly climbed back in the boat about an hour later.

Once we pulled into the dock, we spotted a local fisherman who sold us fresh mahi mahi straight from the ocean. I'm not a huge fish eater, but we BBQ'ed it later that night and it was delicious!

Poor Mahi Mahi

 I think if there was a day that I would want to repeat again and again - this would be it.